Talk:Steamboat Bill

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Steamboat Bill article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Songs

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Songs, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of songs on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SongsWikipedia:WikiProject SongsTemplate:WikiProject Songssong articles

Jazz Low‑importance

	Jazz portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Jazz, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of jazz on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.JazzWikipedia:WikiProject JazzTemplate:WikiProject JazzJazz articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Inaccurate lyrics?

"It imagines a fictional steamboat, the Whippoorwill, captained by "Mr. Steamboat Bill," who is determined to beat the record of the Robert E. Lee. He threatens his mates with death if they do not follow his orders and commands them to use cargo as fuel if they run out of coal." I know for a fact there is no mention of Bill threating anybody in the original version by the Leighton Brothers. (The image on the page and earliest version I can find of this song). There are however several various covers by other people that might modify the lyrics. 2601:582:8100:6570:341F:77D7:34FF:5672 (talk) 18:03, 3 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I was relying on the following lyrics: "If you don't beat the record," Said Billy to his mate, / "You'll be meeting Saint Peter at the Pearly Gate." I have at my desk the CD where I thought I heard these lyrics, but I can't find a working CD player in my house... there is a version on YouTube here which links these lyrics to 1919, but it may not be the original version! NotBartEhrman (talk) 13:09, 4 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Late reply, but yeah that one is Irving’s cover. the article appears to be relating to the original 1910 version. Which lyrics are available in the references. (Duke university) Ren Shields was the original writer.

Through my observations of music, different people will occasionally do their own cover with altered lyrics which occasionally complete change the tone of the song.

(See all the various versions of ‘Freight Train’ which was originally written by Elisabeth Cotten.) 69.111.182.16 (talk) 22:54, 19 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There do seem to be quite a few variations on the lyrics in later recordings. But the original sheet music can be found on Wikisource, where the lyrics are: If we don't beat the record, Billy told the mate, "send my mail in care of Peter at the Golden gate." I think the implication is the owners of the steamboat, who ordered Bill to beat the record in the previous verse, will kill him if he doesn't. It's the same kind of dry, implicit humor used in the rest of the song. Also, it's worth noting the name of the boat is spelled "Whipperwill" here. Chubby Bub (talk) 14:05, 21 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]